The Redhunter

Don't get me wrong; I roughly knew what I would encounter, and I've seen what I thought was serious poverty on mission trips around the east coast of the U.S. I wasn't so much shocked as numbed from seeing so much of it.

More, I am fully aware that Guatemala a few steps up from the worst our planet has to offer. We're not anywhere near African refugee camp here. As measured by GDP per capita the International Monetary Fund ranks Guatemala 108 out of 180 nations, the World Bank 100 out of 170, and the CIA World Factbook 110 out of 191 (see link for explanations).

Details, Details

Ten of us went from Cornerstone Chapel church in Leesburg, Virginia. We were in partnership with the missionary team of Forrest and Carol Kendall of Servants 4 Him

The Kendalls live in Antigua in a compound where the houses are up to Western standards. Antigua, a town of some 34,000 people at about 4,900 feet, is in the central highlands of Guatemala and is surrounded by three volcanoes, most of which are active. This sight greeted me one morning:

This marks my fifth mission trip, and ninth foreign country. Other mission trips were to Cumberland MD, Marion VA, Camden NY, and Scotland. On the first three we rebuilt houses, and in Scotland we taught a Vacation Bible School class. The first three were with a church in Vienna VA and Scotland with Cornerstone Chapel. The Foreign countries I've been to are (not in order of visitation) Canada, the UK (two trips; Scotland and a separate trip to London), Ireland, France, Belgium, Russia, Greece, Israel, and now Guatemala.

In addition to this blog, you can read the posts at the Cornerstone Chapel blog for additional perspectives. I wrote the one for day two, the one about our dental clinic and visit to Fernando's house.

Our primary work project was to build and rebuild some houses in a compound where the Lopez family lived, some 12 adults and 10 children total. The entire area was maybe a quarter acre at most, and held some four small houses. Two were all concrete block, one half block with a (rotted)wooden upper-half, and the fourth made of reeds. the roofs on all was corregated steel.

We brought with us many items that we donated/gave and used in our various projects. Basically we used our two checked luggage bags to bring team materials, and relied on our carry-on for all personal items. Some of the team materials were

- Hundreds of used children's shoes and clothing
- Hundreds of toothbrushes and toothpaste
- Fun and games materials for the kids; coloring books, crayons, soccer balls, etc

Yup, we maxed out the weight limit on each bag.

Ten of us came from a church in Loudoun County, split evenly between men and women. We worked with a husband-and-wife missionary team permanently stationed in Antigua, Guatemala. The compound was in a small village inhabited by Mayan Indians maybe an hours drive from their house.

Our schedule was as follows

Thursday - travel
Friday - visit to Santiago Atitlan, a remote Mayan village
Saturday - dental clinic
Sunday - church in Guatemala city and free afternoon
Monday through Thursday - work in the Lopez family compound in a small village near Antigua
Friday - travel

The missionaries host teams from around the United States on a regular basis. The work projects are kind of an ongoing thing, so what one team starts another finishes. We did not finish all of the work in the Lopez family compound, for example, leaving some of it for the next team. More on this below

More on this later, but missionary work is a combination of spreading the gospel and doing good works. Essentially we show our faith through works. Missionaries do works to lead people to Jesus. The families in this compound were Christians, the result of efforts by the missionaries in the previous months.

The Gift

As I was laying concrete block one day one of the Mayan men, tapped me on the shoulder. "Follow me," he indicated through sign language.

He took me over to his house, which was a reed hut measuring maybe 20 by 8 feet. The roof was corrugated steel, held on by nothing more than gravity and a few bricks on top. The door was at one corner of the rectangular structure.

The reed hut is the structure to the right, and the door is swung open

Immediately to my left as I entered was a concrete sink, where two children played in water of dubious quality. In another corner a wood fire smoldered, over which the family was cooking their lunch of tortillas. Towards the back was some bedding, all on a dirt floor. The wife was sitting, and was holding one of her four children in a sling around her neck. Another child sat nearby, and the youngest, maybe a year or so old, sat by the woman's feet, eating, or rather sucking on, a mango. They indicated I should sit, which i did.

I went back and took these photos after the event

The odor wasn't exactly overwhelming, but it wasn't where you'd want to be. I shouldn't have to say that these we're folks who've never seen, much less taken, a bath or shower. And I'm not too proud to admit that at that moment I was glad I'd made sure I was current on my vaccinations before I left the states, and gotten a few extra of the sort you only need while in a third world country besides.

It was your basic Third World hell.

The ability to learn a foreign language has never been one of my skills, and even though I've memorized a few phrases my Spanish is pretty bad. Nevertheless, we introduced each other, and as always I used the Spanish "Tomas" as my given name. The Mayan adults were Jorge and his wife Candida, children Sara, Elsa, Jessie, Presley, and Isirisa (spellings unsure). The man's brother (I think), Valeniano, was also there.

We went through some hand signals and some pidgin Spanish and one of the men brought out two small fans. He pointed to a bundle of reeds in the corner, and to the fans, and indicated they had made them. A few of the kids took them, fanned me, and they communicated that they were there gift to me for helping rebuild their community.

Despite the circumstances I was quite touched by the gesture.

Understand that I may as well have been part of an "away team" from the Starship Enterprise to these people. Although we had tried to communicate it as best we could, they had no conception of what the United States was or really where I had come from. They'd never been more than a few miles from their place of birth, and had maybe a few years of schooling. Most were illiterate. Their universe consisted of their valley, a few mountains beside them, and a nearby town or two. For all they knew this was the entire planet.

So on the one hand I was just part of a team of strangers who showed up every morning for a few days who helped rebuild their compound. They didn't really understand that I live in riches beyond their conception. Surely from my clothes and tools they knew we lived better, though from what I was told few if any of them had seen the inside of a modern home. So although I saw it as a dirt-poor family with nothing to give take the time and effort to make something that they could give as a token of appreciation to someone far richer, they no doubt didn't see the contrast as starkly as I did.

Nevertheless, they did think they had to give us something as a token. All of us on the mission team got these fans.

The fans back home

Now, all this said, it's quite possible that there was another motive behind the gift. We were not scheduled to rebuild the reed house that week, and I did hear word that Jorge (or one of them) had asked us to do so. So the gift could have been a sort of bribe or incentive to see if they could get us to do their house also. They didn't say anything to me about this at the time, but then again my understanding of what they were saying was spotty. Call me cynical, but I discuss the issue of Westerners being "taken in" in more detail below.

In the end I prefer to think that the gift was just that; a gift. I certainly hope it was, and that's how I'm going to remember it. After all, I'm not a newspaper reporter, writing a Ph.D. dissertation, or trying to justify a grant from some organization.

Theme Verse

Philippians 2:1-18

1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death--
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Shining as Stars
12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

14Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16as you hold out[c] the word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. 17But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

v 1-4 is what do to
v 5 is how to do it
v 6-11 is as clear a statement of Christ Jesus as you'll find anywhere in the Bible.
v 12-18 is how to serve; "your attitude should be ____"

Did our team always meet the standard? Of course not. Do I? Don't be silly. Do all Christians? You know the answer to that.

But we try.

Not the Noble Savage

Don't think I have illusions about the Mayans. They have their petty squabbles and jealousies just as anyone else. One of the men who lived in the compound where we were working asked some of us on the team for various personal items several times. We told one of our missionaries, and she said that yes, he had a problem about this sort of thing and she'd have to speak with him about it.

I'm also fully aware that history is littered with the carcasses of Western intellectuals who have made fools of themselves by being utterly taken in by their hosts during a short visit to a foreign country.

"I have been over into the future, and it works"

Lincoln Steffens, 1921, after a visit to the Soviet Union

Paul Hollander wrote an entire book on this phenomenon; Political Pilgrims: Western Intellectuals in Search of the Good Society . It's the story of Western intellectuals who traveled to communist countries, and came back and said they had found paradise. Two things contributed to this result: One, they let their preconceived notions determine their conclusions, and Two, their hosts went all out to pull the wool over their eyes. Of course our trip to Guatemala was different, but the lessons are still worth keeping in mind.

I try and remind myself of Hollander's book whenever I visit a foreign country. If nothing else, you need to keep in mind that by definition you're going to get a limited perspective from a short visit.

So I'll stick to a few quick observations. The Mayans are a short people, and not a woman I saw was more than 5 feet tall, with most being a lot shorter than that. They're an attractive people. I saw a few that seemed almost half-Korean, which made me look twice. Like other Indians, they came across on the land bridge from Asia after the last Ice Age, so my off-the-cuff theory is that it's a gene popping up every now and then.

There's not a lot of desire for upward mobility, we were told. It's as if they have a sort of "slave mentality," one that dates back to the days of true Spanish persecution. They're cultured to believe that they just can't get ahead, so there's no reason to try.

Don't Drink the Water

We've all heard the adage: "Don't drink the water in Mexico or you'll get Montezuma's Revenge!" And it's true, if you drink the water in any Third World country you'll be sorry.

What usually goes along with this advice is something to the effect that "the locals have built up a resistance to the bacteria so they're unaffected."

This second part is most certainly not true. The truth is that they're sick their entire lives. Ok, they do have some resistance so it's not quite so bad for them as it is from us, but they have diarrhea from the day they're born until when they die. That's the part they're used to.

One of the projects our missionaries do is install water filters. It's a sand filtration system, which long story short traps the troublesome bacteria and viruses and makes the water safe. The missionaries drink the water from them, though I didn't have a chance to.

When they drink clean water, and their bowels function normally, they think they're sick. They have to be informed that's the way it normally works.

The Hairy Beast

On Friday the 16th we visited a remote Mayan village called Santiago Atitlan. The town is on the edge of a lake called Lago de Atitlán, and is only accessible by boat ride from the town of Santiago Atitlan. The lake is situated between two volcanoes, and is at 5,105 feet (1,556 m). It was a several hour drive to Santiago Atitlan, and maybe an hour boat ride to our destination.

Once their, our interpreter hired a small pickup, and 10 of us piled in the back, standing up and hanging onto a system of bars they'd installed as handholds, and off we went.

We came to the courtyard where there was a church surrounded by some of their homes. We were in the poorest part of the village.

A few dozen kids aged maybe 2-8 came up and we played with them a bit. Then it was inside the church for some fun and games.

This would be me, surrounded by a dozen children.

Apparently the kids only spoke a Mayan dialect, because while Christie, one of our Guatemalan friends, led the events in Spanish, a Mayan girl of maybe 12 translated everything she said into another tongue.

During a lul in the activities, one of the children looked at my arm, and put his hand out and ran it over my arm feeling the hair. Another child did likewise, then another. Realizing what was up, I lifted my pants leg to my knee, revealing what was to them more body hair then they've ever seen. A dozen children said "Ohhhhhh" all at once, and several hands went forth to feel what was to them the leg of a hairy beast.

A View to a Drilling

The next day we set up a dental clinic in Santiago Zamora, which was within a half hour drive of Antigua. It was truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I've been on several mission trips, and to several foreign countries, and each one has been unique. Each time God has decided He wanted to show me something special, and to use me in a special way to fulfill His plan. As I should well have expected, today was no different.

The plan was that our team would have fun and games with the kids as Duck-Duck-Goose! while they and the adults waited their turn for the dentist. We taught them songs and games about Jesus, color in pictures with crayons, and do a variety of all the sorts of arts and crafts that we do in the states for Sunday School.

Other team members taught the children how to brush their teeth, and then we distributed the toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste that we'd brought from the states.

Meanwhile, inside one of the school rooms we'd set up a dental shop. And we had one amazing dentist.

Dennis was his name, so of course he was "Dennis the dentist" for the rest of the day. A Guatemalan, his regular practice is at the church were is father is pastor. He brought his whole family, and two of his kids acted as dental helpers. The daughter, the eldest, held the tools required for that operation on a tray, while the son prepared the novocaine shots and handed other instruments as required. Meanwhile, his wife took over operations outside, choreographing the games and other activities. Each one, husband, and wife, were masterful at their respective ministries.

One of our number from Loudoun was a professional dental assistant, so she would help the dentist just as happens in a regular office. She sat right beside the operating table the entire time, handling suction and all those things that the dental assistant does back home.

Then, just as we got ready to start, a little problem crept up. The light that Dennis was going to wear on his head wouldn't work. The schoolroom was somewhat dark, and without a direct light there was no way he could see into the his patent's mouth well enough to work. We fiddled with it for a bit, changing batteries and such, and several of us guys all had a whack at it (stop laughing ladies, you know we all like to fix stuff). But try as we might we couldn't make it work.

Finally, I went outside to ask our team members if they by chance had a flashlight on then, and lo and behold Tim had one! It was just perfect, an LED with a sharp beam.

Thing is, Dennis couldn't wear Tim's flashlight on his head. So yours truly held that flashlight for about 8-10 operations until a new headlight could be brought in.

Patient after patient filed in, and Dennis drilled, filled, and extracted. And I got to watch the whole thing from about two feet away.

Dennis' wife leading the activities outside:

What it's Really All About

In the end, though, it's not about good works per se. Oh yes, we're there to help people, to make their lives a little better, don't get me wrong. And indeed we show our love for Jesus through the works that we do. It's just that there's that thing called eternity that is just ever so slightly more important.

So while all this dentistry was going on, and the children and adults were learning outside, God was at work all around us.

You see, it wasn't us doing that work. It wasn't through our foresight, abilities, or organizational skills that made it all happen. It was the Holy Spirit at work in that room that made those things happen.

Which leads to our next story

There but for the Grace of God go I

Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all.

Proverbs 22:2

As the work at the clinic wore down, several of us took a walk to visit a Christian family in the town. There we met Fernando and his family.

Let's just tell it like it is: Fernando and his family live in what we would consider appalling conditions. A few small shacks in a courtyard of maybe a 1/4 acre, a dirt yard, no furniture except what passed for a bed, and a bunch of scrawny chickens in a pen.

Fernando is the man on the far right

Fernando was uneducated but obviously smart. He worked with us at the main job site (more on that below) and he had construction skills. It was impossible to tell his age but he was physically strong. Born in another time or place he could have been a vice president of sales or... a dentist himself.

And it could have been you or me in that house of his instead.

For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

1 Timothy 6: 7

The people we met today may not have a single thing on this earth that you or I would consider treasure, but they have treasures in heaven that would be the envy of King Solomon himself. Can I say likewise for myself? It is a question we should all ponder.

Latinos, Ladinios, and Gringos

We say "Hispanic" here in the states, but they don't use that term in Guatemala. The term for (relatively) pure Spanish folks is "Latinio." For those who are of mixed Spanish and Mayan heritage, it's "Ladino."

And much to my surprise "Gringo" is not a derogatory term, but just an every day description for Caucasians. We therefore had much fun calling ourselves "gringos" in various situations.

Barry the Builder

One of the men on the team, Barry, was a professional builder by trade, so he and Fernando ran the show. The other guys and myself had office jobs of of no practical value so we basically did as we were told all week. I learned how to build various rebar cages, pour footings, and do brickwork.

Monday through Thursday we built and rebuild the houses on the Lopez family compound. As mentioned above, it wasn't necessary for us to complete all of the projects, as the next team from the states would do that. From the Cornerstone Chapel blog

We had planned on rebuilding two kitchens, that grew to three. We had planned to replace a toilet, "bano", not only are we replacing one toilet, we are adding two more, complete with bathrooms (not as we know them), and added a shower. Today (day 6) we connected the kitchen sink "pilla" of one home to the community drainage system. Until now, it has had no connection at all, but ran right out onto the ground. We are also giving them a toilet, their first.

and

Get the sisters house finished and under roof (done), 2. Frame out the two new kitchens on top of the blocks we had laid so the Lopez family could have "open air" kitchens on their new stoves (done), 3. Pour concrete slabs around the plumbing completed yesterday for another toilet, shower, and pilla (done). Even though we are leaving with much yet to completed, the transformation of the Lopez families property is amazing. It is such a vast improvement and Fernando and other laborers Servants 4 Him will hire will complete the project after we are gone.

In addition, the women on the team led the painting efforts, sewed and hung curtains, organized and facilitated the shoe and clothing distribution program, and purchasing and distributing other gifts.

Here are a few construction photos

Digging the foundations

They wanted their houses painted pink on the outside and lime green on the inside, so we obliged. It certainly livened things up

Fernando laying a foundation

One of the rebuilt houses. Now it just needs to be painted and curtains hung. It has a single electrical bulb and two outlets.

So that they didn't have to cook over an open fire, here is one of their new stoves, purchased by people who donate money to Servants4Him.

The People

I'm writing this after jason left his comments below, and it made me think I needed a specific section on just this topic. Basically, I echo all of his comments about the people of developing, or third world, nations.

The men of our team drove to work each day with about four or more of us in the back of a pickup. The sight of several 'gringos' sitting in the back of a pickup on their way to/from what was obviously manual labor got many looks as it was no doubt quite an unusual sight, but when we smiled waved to the people they all smiled and waved back.

The fact is that once you got out of Guatemala City almost all of the people we met did seem happy (big cities do something to people, I'm convinced). All of the Mayans I met were gentle, kind, and happy. They had the smiles and dignity that jason noticed in the parts of the world he visited (see his travelblog, Alexa and Jason's World Travels).

The families we helped neither wanted to be charity cases nor were embarrassed that we had come to help them and do things that they could not themselves. In my mission/work trips to parts of the U.S. we did encounter both attitudes, and frankly it was both disturbing and annoying. It was a pleasure to experience a completely different attitude this time.

From the Cornerstone Chapel blog

The entire week, our team never thought of themselves as special or as the rescuers for this poor Mayan family. Nor, did the Lopez family heap superfluous praise on our team. Instead, both our team and the Lopez family articulated that all that took place was from God and for His glory. We had come out of obedience and love and they received all that we did with thanksgiving in their hearts for God's provision. God was truly glorified!

Both the men and women of the Lopez family did what they could to help us. The men mixed the concrete and mortar and did so quickly and efficiently as soon as we told them we needed more. They helped carry bricks and other supplies as needed. The women kept the children away from areas where we were working (safety as much as anything) and they were quick to help in other ways by picking up a stray tool or such as required.

We shared our lunch with them every day.

Again, their attitude was neither that of dependency (the "gimme gimme gimme" that we see in the West), nor were they embarrassed that they could not build or afford new homes themselves. They took it all in course as just the way things were. How utterly refreshing.

Another interesting thing to note was that when they went out of their compounds the Mayan women tended to dress very nicely. This may seem a disconnect; living in abject poverty yet taking the time to put on one's good clothes and jewelry when going out, but it's really not. Look at photos of street scenes in the United States from 100 years ago and you'll notice that most or many men have on a suit and the women a dress. Today, most of us have on very casual clothes no matter what our income. In my life I've seen office attire go from tie required to business casual to every-day dress in some officers. We're much wealthier in the modern United States, yet we dress like slobs.

The explanation is simple; we all want to have some dignity and dressing relatively nice is an efficient way to do it if you don't have any money and live in bad circumstances.

The Shoes! The Shoes!

As stated above, we brought with us many things to donate both to the Lopez family and the other projects our missionaries were working on.

Before the trip team members gathered used children's shoes from friends, and toothbrushes and toothpaste donated by local businesses and hotels. We were truly blessed that so many good people and businesses gave so much!

We outfitted the Lopez family with new shoes and clothing, and here are some photos of the distribution.

Did We Do Any Good?

The poverty is so widespread, pervasive, and overwhelming that I partially feel like what I did was so minor as to be insignificant. Even all of the many projects Servants 4 Him do is insignificant in the big scheme of things.

Some people, though, do have better lives, and have a shot at a better future. We can't save the world but we can help a little part of it.

But as mentioned before we weren't there to simply build houses.

Temporary Goodbyes: That Little Thing Called Eternity

On Thursday we gathered our tools and finished our projects. It was time to say goodbye. For now.

We distributed photos of ourselves and them that we'd taken during the week. We'd also brought pictures of our families from home that we gave the Lopez'. We even had them laminated so they would last.

The women on our team stared some songs, but before long the Lopez ladies took over and led us in Spanish

I really do need a new camera, one that will do better in low light.

Although I didn't know the words to the songs, it was evident by the way they pointed upwards a few times what they were about. The emotions grew heavy as we/they sang more. Hugs and kisses went all around before we finally had to leave.

I do truly believe that I will see those members of the Lopez family again in heaven one day. I believe I'll see my own family members, and indeed pets, again one day, and it's thoughts like those that keep me going.

This isn't a religion blog, so I won't hammer this point too hard. You either believe this or you don't, but I hold the Christian belief that it's faith in Jesus that gets you into heaven. Works are fine and good, but in the end it's eternity that counts.

Links and More

All of my photos can be found on my Photobucket site.